Wednesday’s game of Pour House Trivia welcomed 106 teams across 15 venues:

FIRST ROUND:

Our Wednesday teams got a stiff wake-up call as we began the game with the most difficult bonus question of the night. After most of our teams earned wagering points on a question about darts, we offered two bonus points to any team that could give us the OFFICIAL name of the line from which the darts are thrown. Only five teams added these hard-earned points with the correct answer of oche. Next, we looked at this new TV show:

We closed the first round with relatively easier questions concerning Weight Watchers and film quotes, but the first bonus question took its toll on the field, as the only perfect first round score was posted by Devan is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things (Furnace).

SECOND ROUND:

Wednesday’s audio question featured songs from Madness (“Our House”), Metallica (“Master of Puppets”), and Muse (“Uprising”). We snacked on eclairs and visited this European landmark:

HALFTIME:

Wednesday’s halftime page depicted film scenes featuring blindfolded characters, while the bottom half included a matching section on Grammy Awards categories. Nine teams posted a perfect score while the overall average landed at 15.9 points. Here are Wednesday’s leading teams at the halftime break:

THIRD ROUND:

After kicking off the second half with a Three Clues question regarding the piranha, we stumped most of our teams with the most difficult wagering question of the night:

–> In 2018, which country’s Ministry of Tourism established a list containing the country’s five national foods: soto, rendang, nasi goreng, satay, and gado-gado?

The answers were all over the map, but only 11% of the field gave us the correct answer of Indonesia. We continued with a look at the various actors that have portrayed this sinister character:

The most difficult bonus question of the round asked our teams to name the capital of Greenland, with just seven teams earning points with Nuuk. The third round did not yield any perfect scores.

FOURTH ROUND:

After the 6-4-2 question dealt with super sports fan Billy Crystal, our teams encountered a trio of wicked bonus questions in Wednesday’s final round. First up, we discussed the top-selling soundtrack from this musical film:

Only 11% of the field earned two bonus points by knowing that Panic! at the Disco sang the opening track to the re-imagined version of the soundtrack to “The Greatest Showman”. Keeping with the theme of musical theatre, we continued with a question regarding the “Ring Cycle” of operas created by Richard Wagner. Once again, only 11% of our teams tacked on two bonus points by knowing that the final title in this cycle (translated as “Twilight of the Gods”) is Götterdämmerung. None of our teams recorded a perfect final round score. Here is your overall leaderboard heading into Wednesdays final question:

WEDNESDAY’S FINAL QUESTION (89.7% success rate):

–> This word is defined as “the state of being completely free of defect”. If you swap the positions of the second and third letters, you will have a word defined as “a magisterial title used in various countries to denote the leader of an administrative area”. What are these two words?

Occasionally, we come across an interesting question that seems more daunting than in reality. Such was the case tonight, as virtually the entire field responded correctly with perfect and prefect. Even with the results of this final question, only two teams ran the table on all wagering questions by scoring the Perfect 21 on Wednesday night: The Dog Ate Our Team Name (Quinn’s) and Cake or Death (Black Hoof). Here is your final hump day leaderboard:

FIRST ROUND:

We wasted no time in challenging our Tuesday teams, as the first bonus question of the night was also one of its most difficult. After most teams earned wagering points by knowing that Jerry Orbach appeared on the TV series “Law & Order”, only eight teams tacked on two bonus points by also knowing that he began his acting career by appearing in the stage production “The Fantasticks”. Next, we looked at this Winter Olympic sport:

We closed the opening round with questions regarding the city of Brasilia and the human skeleton, but thanks to the first bonus question of the round, only four teams earned a perfect score of 36 points in the first stanza: Wiseacres (Champion Billiards), Comfortably Dum (Champion Billiards), Gouda ‘Nuff For Me (Cheesetique), and Hanson Mothers (Cheesetique).

SECOND ROUND:

Tuesday’s second round looked at German language songs, the history of computers, and this thriller film:

After a quick trip to Hawaii, we closed the first half with its most difficult bonus question. After asking our teams about the “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus” self-help book series, we offered two points to any team that could identify the place which completes the follow-up title “Children Are From…”. Ironically, several teams gave us the joke answer of ‘Hell’, when if fact the correct answer was ‘Heaven’. With just five teams earning bonus points, How Did I Get Here? (Senor Tequila’s) recorded the only perfect score of the second round.

HALFTIME:

The Greek alphabet was the featured topic on Tuesdays halftime page, which yielded nine perfect scores and an overall average of 15.4 points. Here is Tuesday’s leaderboard at the halftime break:

THIRD ROUND:

Even after several extremely difficult bonus questions were asked in the first half, we began the second half with a question that nearly stumped EVERY team. The opening question looked at this animated character and his faithful dog:

Only THREE teams earned the first bonus points of the second half by knowing that British actor Jamie Bell voiced the character of Tintin in a 2011 feature film. We continued with questions regarding the infamous Fyre Festival, the classic double play combination of Tinker to Evers to Chance, and the confection of marzipan. Not surprisingly, none of our Tuesday teams ran the table in the third round.

FOURTH ROUND:

The difficult bonus questions continued into the final round on Tuesday night, as only nine teams could give us Manero as the surname of the lead character from the film “Saturday Night Fever”. Later, in a relatively easier bonus question, 12% of our teams could name all four of the countries that border the nation of Jordan (Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria). The fourth round also included our nightly Three Clues question, which concluded with a look at this cable series:

The final round did not yield any perfect scores. Here is Tuesday’s overall leaderboard heading into the final question:

TUESDAY’S FINAL QUESTION (69.3% success rate):

–> Airing during the 1960s, the episodes “To Serve Man” and “It’s a Good Life” both appeared on TV Guide’s list of the 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. For your wager, which series which aired BOTH of these episodes?

Just over two-thirds of our teams responded correctly with “The Twilight Zone”. Despite a slew of difficult bonus questions, the wagering questions actually fell a bit on the easier side, as nine teams recorded the Perfect 21 on Tuesday night. These were your highest scoring teams at the close of Tuesday’s game:

Could Monday’s game of Pour House Trivia possibly top the excitement of the Super Bowl? Well, after we suffered through Sunday’s “football game”, that would appear to be an absolute certainty. All told, Monday’s game welcomed 91 teams across ten venues:

FIRST ROUND:

Opening round topics from Monday night included bats (the animal), top-ranked universities, and this card game:

A Triple 50/50 question about the colors of red and blue offered the most difficult bonus points of the round, as only 13% of the field responded with three correct answers. Eight teams avoided that speed bump to record a perfect first round score.

SECOND ROUND:

Karaoke music returned for Monday’s audio question, as teams were asked to identify instrumental versions of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles, “Jump” by Van Halen, and “Hey, Soul Sister” by Train. We continued with questions concerning British history and the nickname “Four Horsemen”, as a reference to both Notre Dame football and professional wrestling. We closed the first half with a look at this recent Western film currently appearing on Netflix:

Though most teams recognized a description of the Coen Brothers film “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”, only 13% of our teams could recall the name of the man pictured above: Tim Blake Nelson. Instead, most teams opted for the common wrong answer of “That guy from O Brother Where Are Thou?“. Six teams ran the table with 36 second round points.

HALFTIME:

Nominees from next week’s Grammy Awards ceremony were depicted on Monday’s halftime page, which yielded nine perfect scores and an overall average of 16.3 points. Here are your highest scoring first half teams from Monday night:

THIRD ROUND:

Monday’s third round included questions regarding the classic rock song “Layla”, the voices behind the animated film “Cars”, and these two works of art:

The most difficult bonus question of the night concluded the third round, as we asked our teams to name the Horatio Alger work which is considered to be the most notable book in the “rags to riches” literary genre. Only five teams tacked on these two bonus points with the correct answer of “Ragged Dick”. As a result, Dave Martinez School of Management (Hershey’s) posted the only perfect score of Monday’s third round.

FOURTH ROUND:

After discussing some of the lesser-known facts about Microsoft in Monday’s 6-4-2 question, we opened the final round by asking our teams to name either one of the two MLB players who have earned at least 99% of the possible votes for Hall of Fame induction. Nearly half of our teams earned bonus points with these two correct answers:

Later, we looked at the TV series “The Waltons”, snacked on some cream of mushroom soup, and asked a Three Clues question about silk. In a rarity, the final round proved to be the easiest round of the night, as a whopping 17 teams swept all three bonus questions to post 36 points. Here is Monday’s leaderboard heading into the final question:

MONDAY’S FINAL QUESTION (57.4% success rate):

–> Excluding a small fleur-di-lis seen on some versions of the New Orleans Pelicans logo, what is the only NBA team with a plant pictured in its current logo?

Just over half of our teams responded correctly with the Boston Celtics, which naturally depicts a shamrock in its logo. Congratulations to the eight teams that earned the Perfect 21 by answering all wagering questions correctly. Here is your highest scoring teams at the close of Monday’s game:

Despite less than optimal weather, each of our four weekend venues welcomed at least ten teams last weekend, leading to a total field size of 62 teams:

FIRST HALF:

Though most of the field breezed through the opening round wagering questions, one bonus question on each night kept nearly all of the perfect scores off the board. On Friday, only two of our 38 teams tacked on two bonus points by identifying “Above the Law” as the first starring role for future lawman Steven Seagal. Likewise, only two of our Saturday teams earned bonus points by recognizing a description of this game show currently airing on VH-1:

Saturday’s audio question featured sportscasters who had announced multiple Super Bowls, while other second round topics included African geography, the work of comedian Dennis Miller, and supernatural films such as “The Shining” and “Bedknobs and Broomsticks”. The most difficult wagering question of the first half was asked at the close of Saturday’s second round:

–> Reaching its peak in the 1990s, which music group takes its name for a slang term referring to broken capillaries found in the faces of heavy alcoholic drinkers?

Only 23% of our Saturday squads gave us the correct answer of The Gin Blossoms. Smarty Pants (Belles’) posted the only perfect score of the first round last weekend, while Not Going Gently (Belles’) was the only team to match that feat in the second stanza.

HALFTIME:

Naturally, a Super Bowl theme was featured on both halftime pages last weekend. Our overall average reached 17.3 points, while two teams posted perfect scores: Mixed Bag of Chinchillas (Springfield Manor Winery) and Deplorables (Belles’). Here is your weekend leaderboard at the halftime break:

SECOND HALF:

Third round topics from last weekend included the advertising slogans used by Southwest Airlines, the opening lines of Shakespeare, and the albums of Michael Jackson. Our Saturday teams closed their third round with a look at TV guest stars:

–> Name either one of the two actresses who respectively portrayed Rachel or Phoebe’s mother on the TV sitcom “Friends”.

Exactly half of our teams gave us either one of the two correct answers of Teri Garr or Marlo Thomas:

The most difficult wagering question of the second half was asked during Saturday’s fourth round, as only four of our teams knew that Burger King had introduced a failed 1980s marketing campaign featuring a nerdy character named Herb. None of our weekend teams earned perfect scores in either of the final two rounds. Here is your pre-final leaderboard from last weekend:

FRIDAY’S FINAL QUESTION (25.0% success rate):

–> Designed in the early 1950s, the UNIVAC was not a vacuum cleaner, but instead a forerunner of the modern computer. The first UNIVAC ever built was used for a specific purpose after it was purchased in 1951 by which bureau of the federal government?

SATURDAY’S FINAL QUESTION (25.0% success rate):

–> Respectively released in the 1930s and 1970s, which two films featured the top-ranking female characters on the American Film Institute’s list of the top movie villains of all time?

In an odd twist, both of our final questions last weekend featured the same percentage of correct answers. Friday’s correct response was the U.S. Census Buerau, while our Saturday teams scored points with both “The Wizard of Oz” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. None of our weekend teams posted a Perfect 21, as every team missed at least one wagering question. Here is your final weekend leaderboard:

With six PHT venues each hosting more than a dozen teams, we closed our weeknight schedule by welcoming 122 teams across 15 venues:

FIRST ROUND:

After opening Thursday’s game with a quick trip to the Mexican state of Chihuahua, we stumped nearly half of our teams with a three-part question concerning U.S. state mottos. We also looked at the plot details surrounding this animated film:

With each of the first three bonus questions yielding a success rate of about 25%, we saw just four perfect scores in the opening stanza: I’d Hit That (Quincy’s), Uranus Fly Trap (Smoketown), Punslingers (Beef ‘O’ Brady’s), Brother of Menelaus (Fish Market).

SECOND ROUND:

After a difficult first round, our teams were happy to earn bonus points on Thursday’s audio question, which featured clips from “How Will I Know” by Whitney Houston, “Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver, “More Than a Feeling” by Boston. We managed to sprinkle in another geography question by quizzing our teams about this Asian national flag:

We closed the first half with questions concerning the TV series “The Blacklist” and the short story “The Princess and the Pea”. With a far easier trio of bonus questions, the second round yielded 13 perfect scores.

HALFTIME:

Disney animals was the featured topic on Thursday’s halftime page. Falling on the easier side of the spectrum, 22% of our teams earned a perfect score, while the overall average landed at 18.4 points. Here is Thursday’s halftime leaderboard:

THIRD ROUND:

After kicking off Thursday’s second half with a three-part question regarding U.S. Cabinet Secretaries, we looked at this series of novels:

Later, we enrolled at Gustavus Adolphus College and celebrated the career of hockey legend Phil Esposito. The third round did not yield any perfect scores.

FOURTH ROUND:

After just four teams earned the full six points on Thursday’s 6-4-2 question about Popeye, we took in some high culture with a question regarding Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”. Though we continued with another music question later in the round, we jumped ahead about 200 years by asking our teams about this cover song:

Next up, this difficult question in the subject of film taglines:

–> Which 1998 comedy film used the tagline: “Her life was in their hands. Now her toe is in the mail”?

Only 29% of the field earned points here with “The Big Lebowski”. Thursday’s game closed with a Three Clues question about the retail company Staples. The only perfect score of the final stanza was posted by Brother of Menelaus (Fish Market). Here is your pre-final leaderboard from Thursday night:

THURSDAY’S FINAL QUESTION (26.8% success rate):

–> One of the hottest fads right now is the GOMAD diet, which promises that you can gain 25 pounds in 25 days. GOMAD is an acronym that stands for what phrase, based on the amount of the diet’s primary consumable that you must ingest?

Just over one-fourth of our teams responded correctly with Gallon Of Milk A Day. Four of our Thursday teams ran the table on every wagering question in order to earn the Perfect 21: Fan Club (Quincy’s), Captain Awesome and the Wonder Friends (Quincy’s), Dave Martinez School of Management (Flower Hill), and Brother of Menelaus (Fish Market). These were your highest scoring teams at the close of Thursday’s game: